Oberland Odyssey – Days 1 & 2

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I mentioned in my last archive post that my wife used to work for a mountaineering company during the summer.  Having helped out at weekends* and seen many mountaineers come and go on the various courses, in August 2010, I went on one of them myself.
(*I was still working then and it was before we moved to Evolène).

As a complete novice, I chose to do the “Oberland Odyssey”, which required little if any previous high mountaineering experience.   After a day of training on the local Ferpècle glacier, the plan was to trek, from mountain hut to mountain hut, in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland – with a qualified mountain guide of course.

I was teamed up with Aiden, who had been on one of the other courses before and Des, an experienced mountaineer, who had not been feeling on top form the previous week, so he decided to join our ‘easy’ group for his second week.  Hannah would be our guide.

After a brief discussion at the base chalet in Evolène, we agreed that the Finsteraarhorn, the highest peak in the Bernese Oberland, at 4,274m or 14,022ft, would be our main objective for the week ahead.   However, the weather forecast was not great.

Day 1 – Glacier Training:

After a short drive and about an hours walk, we arrived at the foot of the Ferpècle glacier.   It’s a strange feeling strapping on crampons and walking across a glacier for the first time, but it was good to get at least little experience before setting off on our trek.  A bit of ice climbing added to the enjoyment too.  There’s something deeply satisfying when you hear that ‘kerchunk’ as the ice-axe grips into a wall of ice.  😊

Regular readers may note that this is the glacier which had the ‘hole’.   And, due to the receding ice and the difficulty of access, it’s no longer using for these training days.  (The Moiry hut and glacier iin the Val d’Anniviers, are now used instead).

 

Day 2 – Along the Aletsch glacier to the Konkordia Hut:

It was about an hours drive to Fiesch, where we took the gondola lift up to Fiescheralp and, from there, we set off towards the Aletsch glacier, carrying all our gear for the next 5 days (4 nights) in the mountains.  It has to be said that nothing, absolutely nothing, can prepare you for the sight and size of what is the longest and possibly largest glacier in the Alps (unless you are an experienced mountaineer of course!)  Not convinced?  Check out the first picture below, then look at the following image.  There are at least 14 people, almost invisible on the first photo, who were making their way off the glacier.  An even larger number are ahead of us, just below the glacier.

As you will see from the pictures below, the weather wasn’t kind and the rain soon turned to snow as we walked up the glacier to ascend to the Konkordia hut.  I think I was lucky to get these few pictures.  Remember, this was in August!  Thankfully, the weather did improve…

Mike’s Music Monday #52

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Please note that this post was scheduled well before the Coronavirus outbreak, so please don’t be offended by the title of the song…  (I did think about swapping it for another song, but it is quite humorous in a ‘dark’ sort of way).

OK – some of you may be glad to know that this is the last in this series. (Hooray, I hear you cry).  I know it’s not been that popular, but it has filled in some gaps, which I may well fill this coming year with some other random posts (yet to be determined).

Anyway, for my last song, it seemed appropriate to play this one by Just Jack, called the Day I Died.  I had the pleasure of watching Just Jack live at the D Club in Lausanne some years ago.  He introduced this as a ‘happy song’, so who am I to argue.  Whatever, I think the lyrics and video are superb.  (In case you didn’t know Just Jack (Allsop) appears at the end of the video, as the medic who shakes his head).

 

Matterhorn Flight from Sion, Switzerland

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For my 2nd ‘archive’ post, I’ll stay with the airborne theme of the Chateau D’Oex Balloon Festival and take you on a tour of the Matterhorn…  But first, some background:

For several summers after we arrived in Switzerland, my wife, Jude, worked for a mountaineering company.  (Her afternoon teas were, indeed still are, legendary!  ☕🍰)   Guests would be taken by qualified Mountain Guides to the summit of many of the (often 4,000m+) peaks in the Alps.  One of the guides, Anthony, was learning to fly and when he passed his test he offered to take me and another guest for a flight.  This was on the assumption that we paid for the ‘hire’ of the plane, which actually wasn’t that expensive at 2 Swiss Francs per minute.

So it was that, one fine Saturday morning, we took off from Sion in the Rhone valley in a 4 seater plane, with me in the co-pilot’s seat and headed up the Val d’Hérens.  Anthony was in contact with the Control Tower until we left the Rhone valley and then we were on our own.  “If you see anything, let me know” he said!

We gradually gained height as we passed over Vex and then on to the Arolla valley, doubling back to turn right at the ‘twin peaks’ of the Dents de Veisivis.  From there we passed by the Aiguille de la Tsa and it was only later, when I zoomed in on the photo, that I noticed 4 climbers on what looks like an impossible spike.  (See pics 16 & 17).

A slight left turn took us past the snowy face of the d’Hérens and across a massive glacier to circumnavigate the iconic Matterhorn.   Again, it was only later that I noticed the Solvay bivouac hut clinging to the Hörnli Ridge.  This is the ridge the mountaineers take to climb the Matterhorn from Zermatt, though there is another route up from the Italian side.

Our steady descent took us down the Zinal valley, alongside the Ober Gabelhorn, Zinalrothorn, Weisshorn ridge then over the Moiry mountain hut and reservoir of the same name.  As we approached the Rhone valley, about an hour after taking off, we regained contact with the Control Tower and were given permission to land.  After a perfect landing Anthony said: “That’s the best landing I’ve ever done!”

As you can imagine, it was an exhilarating experience and one I hope you enjoy too via these pics.  The quality isn’t great I’m afraid as the vast majority were taken through the cockpit window.

P.S. Don’t forget to look for the hidden face or “The Scream” in pic 27.  😊

Chateau D’Oex Balloon Festival

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Like most of you, I’m pretty much confined to barracks for the duration of this Coronavirus outbreak.  So I thought I’d dig into my archives to find you some interesting items to cheer you all up (and to give me something to do of course! 😊)

For the first in this series, I’ve gone back to January 2006 and 2008, when I visited the Chateau D’Oex Balloon Festival.  As you will see below, the balloons on display are many and varied, with some incredible designs.  The colours are so vibrant, especially in what was bright sunshine, I just had to take a lot of photographs.

Stay safe and healthy.  And a big THANK YOU to all those who are working tirelessly to keep the rest of us alive and well.

Mayens de Cotter Walk, via Volovron

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A few weeks ago now, I placed my camera on the kitchen worktop.  When I went to pick it up, rather ironically, the safety strap got caught on a drawer handle and pulled it out of my hand, such that it fell on the tiled floor.  At first it didn’t work, but after switching it off and on a few times, it miraculously came back to life.  It had a blurred spot in the bottom left corner of the images anyway, so I decided to buy a new one, just in case it decided to pack up when I needed it most.

Having invested in spare batteries, I decided to by the same make, but ‘upgrade’ to a more expensive model (as would-be photographers tend to do) – a Sony RX100 (from a WX500).    On the face of it, it was the same camera, with much the same functions, but it had a 1″ sensor and had rave reviews.

It was only when I’d got it out of the box and tried it a few times that I realised it had a very poor zoom of only 3.6x. (My old one had a 30x zoom).  And it appears the ‘wide’ panorama isn’t quite as wide as my old one.  But, the images do seem to be a lot better.  To cover all the bases, I took both cameras with me on my walk from home today.  The route was a little challenging in places, due to the snow, but the weather was fantastic.

I always shrink the images to around 250k (to save WordPress space and you waiting aaages for the images to load).  Four of the images below, were taken with my old camera, but I would guess that you cannot tell which they are.

Spring is in the air…

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When I look out of the window today, it seems inconceivable that only a week ago it was snowing and we had around a foot (30cm) of snow covering our garden.  However the temperatures have risen quite sharply since and all that snow has now gone.  Our daffodils are starting to emerge and there are signs of Spring everywhere.

Over the weekend we were pleasantly surprised to see at least a dozen different birds in and around our bird feeder.  We had the usual Great, Blue, Coal, Crested and Willow/Marsh* Tits, who are regular winter visitors, but in addition there were several Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Blackbirds and Rock Buntings plus a Robin, a Greenfinch and a Pied Wagtail.
*I never can tell the difference.

Most of my photos were not particularly good, but I did also go for a short walk up the path behind our chalet yesterday and I thought I’d share a few of the better images for you to enjoy.

 

Abbotsbury to Dorchester Walk (Day 7)

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On Day 7, Pete caught the bus and train back home, but I had an extra day before flying back to Geneva.  My plan was to walk part of the South Dorset Ridgeway then turn north to Dorchester.  But it was soon obvious that the weather and, more importantly, the state of the paths, (see pic 3), would determine the best way forward.   I figured, after all, I was there to enjoy myself and not slip and slide ankle deep in mud.

A quick look at the map showed a very direct route along quiet roads and paths and so that became Plan B – especially as it went through the delightfully named Martinstown or Winterbourne St Martin, where there was a pub. 😊  I arrived there a little early so I explored the church before spending an hour or so drying out in front of a roaring fire and chatting to the locals.  That included a 95 year old gentleman who walked in shortly after me (completely unaided by an stick or other support) and quipped “You’ve got to get up early to be the first in this pub!”  He was a great character, who’d been in the RAF. He told me his home was flooded just before Christmas and he was living temporarily in a rented cottage nearby.  He hoped to be back in his house sometime during April.

The route also took me past the Hardy Monument on the top of Black Down, where there’s a 360 degree viewpoint – on a clear day of course.  (See pic 8).   I should explain that this ‘Hardy’ was not the Dorchester writer, Thomas Hardy, famous for his Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. (I’ve never read any of these by the way, Pete told me… You can learn all sorts of things on these trips…!)  The monument was built in memory of another local hero, the Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy (1769 – 1839), who was Captain of HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).  Almost any British school boy or girl will tell you, as Vice-admiral Horatio Nelson lay dying, he uttered the immortal words: “Kiss me Hardy”.

That brings us to the end of my UK trip.  I hope you have enjoyed the series.  The sun is now shining brightly in the Val d’Hérens, so I hope to bring you some more Swiss pictures in the next few days. 😊

 

South West Coast Path, Day 6, Weymouth to Abbotsbury

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I mentioned on Day 1 that there were 2 reasons why Pete had chosen to do this part of the SW Coast Path and the second reason was that the first ever ‘proper’ book that he’d read as a young boy was called Moonfleet, which was set in this area of the country.  It was written by John Meade Falkner in 1898 and is a tale of adventure, smuggling and a search for Blackbeard’s lost diamond.  But overall it’s a story of loyalty and a great friendship between the two main characters, John Trenchard and Elzevir Block.

Pete had sent me a copy of the book just before Christmas for me to read as ‘homework’ before our trip and I’m glad he did, as it really added to the enjoyment of our walk.  The Old Fleet church is featured in the book, as is the Moonfleet Manor.  There is even an Inn in the book called the Why Not? (and Why Not? indeed, I always say 😉).

Pete and I also met up with two of his old University pals, Jacky and Alan, who now live in Dorchester.  We met them and their dog at the Moonfleet Manor and they walked a section of the route with us.